Selected Papers from the Fourteenth International ... - STIBA Malang
Selected Papers from the Fourteenth International ... - STIBA Malang
Selected Papers from the Fourteenth International ... - STIBA Malang
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56 Kristin Bech<br />
3.1 Existential verbs in <strong>the</strong> XVS pattern<br />
The first feature to be discussed is <strong>the</strong> distribution of existential verbs in <strong>the</strong><br />
XVS non-coordinate clauses vs. coordinate clauses. As <strong>the</strong> tables show, in OE<br />
<strong>the</strong> coordinate clause category has a higher proportion of existential verbs than<br />
<strong>the</strong> non-coordinate clause category, whereas it is <strong>the</strong> opposite in ME, with an<br />
especially pronounced difference between <strong>the</strong> two clause types in late ME. In<br />
early OE and late ME <strong>the</strong> difference between non-coordinate and coordinate<br />
clauses is statistically significant, whereas in late OE and early ME it is not. 6<br />
If we take a closer look at <strong>the</strong> individual texts and start with <strong>the</strong> early OE<br />
period, it appears that one of <strong>the</strong> texts, Orosius, contains 16 out of <strong>the</strong> 20 existential<br />
coordinate clauses. They all occur in Book I, chapter I, which contains<br />
<strong>the</strong> tale of <strong>the</strong> voyages of Oh<strong>the</strong>re and Wulfstan, as well as a description of<br />
Greece and Italy. This text is thus descriptive, and in that way lends itself well<br />
to existential constructions, and it is descriptive in an enumerative way, which<br />
also explains <strong>the</strong> use of coordination. An example is given in (6):<br />
(6) 7 on suðhealfe 7 on wes<strong>the</strong>alfe þæs muðan sindon Mæsi, Creca leode – 7 be westan<br />
þære byrig sindon Traci<br />
and on <strong>the</strong>-south-side and on <strong>the</strong>-west-side of-<strong>the</strong>-mouth are <strong>the</strong>-Moesians,<br />
of-Greeks people – and on <strong>the</strong>-west of-<strong>the</strong> city are <strong>the</strong>-Thracians<br />
“and on <strong>the</strong> south and on <strong>the</strong> west side of <strong>the</strong> mouth are <strong>the</strong> Moesians, a Greek<br />
tribe, and on <strong>the</strong> west of <strong>the</strong> city are <strong>the</strong> Thracians” (Or 18: 9)<br />
In <strong>the</strong> late OE texts, it turns out that 10 out of <strong>the</strong> 16 existential coordinate<br />
clauses occur in Wulfstan’s Homilies, most of <strong>the</strong>m of <strong>the</strong> kind exemplified in (7):<br />
(7) 7 of þære mægðe com se mæra mann Abraham<br />
and <strong>from</strong> that tribe came <strong>the</strong> famous man Abraham<br />
“and <strong>from</strong> that tribe <strong>the</strong> famous man Abraham came” (WHom 148: 99)<br />
In Wulfstan, however, <strong>the</strong> existential clauses do not occur in one particular<br />
part of <strong>the</strong> text, but throughout <strong>the</strong> text, and we may note that <strong>the</strong>y occur in contexts<br />
where coordination is natural, since <strong>the</strong> initial adverbial refers anaphorically<br />
to a constituent in <strong>the</strong> previous discourse.<br />
As <strong>the</strong> examples <strong>from</strong> Orosius and Wulfstan demonstrate, certain textual,<br />
genre-specific features may have consequences for <strong>the</strong> distribution when <strong>the</strong><br />
number of tokens is relatively small. Hence, we cannot draw any firm conclusions<br />
about <strong>the</strong> general linguistic picture, but will have to content ourselves<br />
with postulating ‘tendencies’ and ‘indications’. One conclusion that may be<br />
drawn, however, is that in OE, <strong>the</strong> distribution of existential verbs in <strong>the</strong> XVS<br />
6. Late OE: chi-square value = 3.416, p ≈ 0.07; early ME: chi-square value = 1.74, p ≈ 0.19.